Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Don't Short Sell David Wright

With the Mets now playing Triple A talent on a regular basis, it's time to do what every Mets Lifer does best: play armchair GM. Who should the Mets trade? What talent should the Met hold onto? And who on earth can we trick into taking Oliver Perez?

And of course it's time the annual "break up the core" discussion to begin. Trade Reyes. Trade Beltran. Trade Wright. No stone should be unturned and the Mets should listen to every offer that's out there, but we shouldn't be so quick to be rid of David Wright.

Wright is having a pretty good season right now batting .292 and is on pace for about 28 home runs and 100+ RBI. Some of his numbers are below his career averages and his MVP-esque years in 2007 and 2008. The thing to remember about Wright is he excelled in those '07 and '08 campaigns because of the other bats in the lineup he had around him. Pitchers had to deal with Delgado and Beltran when they were still threats in the lineup.

Look at what Wright has had around him the past two seasons...pretty much nobody. Beltran is a shadow of his former self. Ike Davis, while he hits massive home runs, is still just a rookie. Bay is as threatening as a baby kitten. And for the rest of the year, Wright will be flanked by the likes of Luca Duda, Nick Evans, Chris Carter and Josh Thole.

Wright has had his struggles in clutch situations and he's become exceptionally streaky. There's no denying that, but his body of work is still a great value to the Mets. He's trying to be the leader in the clubhouse. He's the one guy that's out there day in and day out even while his other stars have faded around him.

Wright will never be Albert Pujols. He'll never be an Alex Rodriguez type of talent. That's what we expected of him. We all bought into the hope and hype that this guy would be arguable one of the greatest Mets we've ever seen. But if he's not the greatest Met, he's still a really good player. He's probably the best guy to every play third base for this organization.

I'm fairly confident that if Bay turns things around next year and Beltran is inspired by the thoughts of a contract year and provides some other threats in the Mets lineup, we will see David Wright return to those '07 and '08 numbers.

But if that doesn't happen. He's an island unto himself in that lineup.